This invention relates to weather stripping joints and more specifically to the production of a continuous loop of automotive weather stripping by joining two ends thereof.
Weather stripping has been used on automobiles for the various seals around the doors, windows and trunks. Generally, the weather stripping needs to be formed in a continuous loop in order to seal the body part of the automobile, such as a door or trunk. This loop has a joint where the two ends of the weather stripping meet.
In the past the ends of a loop of automotive weather stripping have been joined by application of an adhesive. The process employed a sealing plug for connecting the two ends of the weather stripping in an aligned relationship. After alignment on the sealing plug, the two ends were adhered in place and cured. This was a time-consuming process. Furthermore, the weather stripping occupied costly production floor space during the curing of the adhesive. Also, problems were encountered with misaligned joints caused by movement of the weather stripping during the curing time.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an improved method and apparatus for end-to-end joining of automotive weather stripping.